Healing Medicine: Mindfulness, Mindset & Physician Well-Being
This podcast, hosted by Dr. Jessie Mahoney and Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang, focuses on mindfulness, mindset, and sustainable well-being for physicians. It offers practical strategies, coaching tools, and real conversations to help medical professionals feel more present, fulfilled, and in control. The show addresses burnout, leadership, and sustainable careers in medicine, aiming to help physicians reclaim balance and a love for their work. Formerly known as the Mindful Healers Podcast, it retains the same hosts, mission, and conversations under a new name.
Episodes
335. The Problem With Never Being Satisfied: Still Practicing, but Differently
"I thought I was a Kaiser lifer." Dr. Jessie Mahoney loved pediatrics. She loved her patients, families, teaching, leadership, and the work. She had a busy practice, a pension, lifetime health insurance, and even a Top Dog award—the prize was a stuffed dog, which might tell you something. From the outside, leaving after 22 years made absolutely no sense. But Jessie had an ongoing, growing, gnawing
334. When Your Dream Job Changes: Finding a Sustainable Way to Practice Medicine with Ashlin Mountjoy
She thought she had found her forever job: full-scope family medicine, OB care, community health, and clinical leadership in an FQHC she loved. Then the job changed. Leaders left, colleagues were fired, staffing became unsustainable, and the work that had once felt like a dream was asking too much -- of her nervous system, health, and family life. In this episode, a family practice physician from
333. Intentional Friendship: Why Connection After Training Takes Real Effort
In training, connection often happens without much effort. You are surrounded by people who get it. Then you become an attending, move, build a family, care for patients and parents, and suddenly friendship feels like one more thing that requires energy you do not have. In this episode, Jessie Mahoney and Ni-Cheng Liang talk about why friendship after training takes real intention—and why it is no
332. Uncompromising Intimacy: How to Reconnect in Long-Term Relationships
What if compromise is not the path to a more connected relationship? For many of us, especially in long-term relationships, compromise can look like avoiding the conversation, making ourselves smaller, or giving up what is real and alive inside us so that our partner will be more comfortable. It keeps the peace, but it also creates distance. In this open, practical conversation, Dr. Jessie Mahoney
331. High Maintenance: You Are Worth Maintaining Meticulously
What if being called "high maintenance" is not an insult, but a sign that you are paying attention to what it takes to live and work well? In this solo episode, Dr. Jessie Mahoney explores the hidden cost of being the easy one—the physician who asks for little, absorbs the inconvenience, takes the extra shift, and tries not to make waves. For many women in medicine, labels like selfish, difficult,
330. Getting Your Head Above the Clouds: Creating Space to Savor What Comes Next
How can you create enough space to notice what you need and trust yourself? In this warm conversation, family physician and physician leader Dr. Kelly Derbin shares how coaching, mindfulness, yoga, and two Connect in Nature retreats helped her navigate clinical burnout, leadership, caring for her aging mother, and the decision to retire from clinical practice. She shares how these tools have help
329. Hope Is Not a Plan: Finding Agency in Chaos, Caregiving, and Change
Hope is deeply human. It can keep us going when life feels uncertain, painful, or out of our control. But hope is not a plan. In this solocast, Dr. Jessie Mahoney shares what she is learning while caring for her aging parents through a season of medical crises, changing needs, family decisions, and more chaos than she expected. Then she widens the conversation to the endurance races many of us ar
328. The Gift of Listening: Mindful Communication Beyond Fixing
What if the conversation in front of you is not asking you to fix anything? As physicians, caregivers, parents, and partners, we are trained to notice suffering and move quickly toward a solution. But even when our intention is to help, fixing can sometimes land as judgment. It can leave the other person feeling unseen, rushed, or as though they need to change. In this episode, Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang
327. The Art of Pacing: Trusting Yourself Through Change with Dr. Jenny Kohr
What if you did not have to earn your rest, optimize your time off, or have the next chapter all figured out before it begins? In this episode of Healing Medicine, Dr. Jessie Mahoney talks with Dr. Jenny Kohr, a breast radiologist in the space between two jobs. After leaving a role she held for nearly 14 years, Jenny took nine weeks before starting the next one. She did not travel the world. She d
326. The Weight of Guilt: Toward Guilt-Free Decision-Making with Dr. Jennifer Reid
Guilt heavily influences women physicians' decision-making. I see it day in and day out as a physician coach. Dr. Jessie Mahoney talks with psychiatrist and author Dr. Jennifer Reid about her book Guilt Free and the guilt equation she uses with patients: guilt as our expectations minus our perceived reality. They walk through the four expectations Jennifer calls "the four furies"—constant caretaki
325. What Would Be Kind to Yourself This Year? Birthday Reflections with Dr. Jessie Mahoney & Dr. Erica Bove
Dr. Jessie Mahoney and Dr. Erica Bove are birthday twins. Once a year, they sit down to reflect on what they are proud of, what they have learned, and what they want for the year ahead. This year, the conversation moves through self-kindness and what it actually looks like. They also talk about surrender as a lived experience rather than a concept, the courage it takes to rest inside a life built
324. Physicians Caring for Aging Parents: Boundaries and Buoyancy
There is a moment many of us know is coming: a parent's health changes, and our role changes with it. For physicians, caregiving can be especially complicated — our medical knowledge comes with responsibility, worry, and a powerful instinct to fix. We can know what might be medically best and still not be the person who gets to decide. Jessie and Ni-Cheng explore how mindfulness and coaching don't
323. Why Shame Keeps Good Doctors Silent with Dr. René Roberts
Shame around failure and rejection isolates physicians and fuels burnout. Dr. Jessie Mahoney and Dr. René Roberts explore why, and what failure actually teaches us instead. Dr. René Roberts is a board-certified family medicine physician, a three-time Castle Connolly Top Doctor, and a TEDx speaker who got into medicine the hard way — rejected by every school she applied to for three years and faili
322. Is It Too Late to Change Careers as a Doctor? How Retreats and Coaching Helped Dr. Karen Fromhold Start a Fellowship at 58
Dr. Jessie Mahoney talks with family medicine physician Dr. Karen Fromhold, ten days into her hospice and palliative medicine fellowship. Karen had a good enough job. One she had loved and was a great fit for a while. She wasn't burned out. She simply had a dream she'd carried for over 20 years. Our conversation explores what it took to voice her dream, trust it, and finally move toward it and th
321. Feeling Restless in Medicine? One Pediatrician's Story of Leaving, Returning, and Finally Feeling Found
Many physicians reach a point where they are functioning well on the outside — delivering good care, staying credentialed, showing up — and yet something beneath the surface feels flat, restless, or not quite right. Not burned out exactly. Not unhappy exactly. Just not fully found. Dr. Abhay Dandekar, a pediatrician who was a resident with Jessie, shares his journey of not feeling lost but also n
320. When Life Blindsides You: Mindful Lessons from a Hit-and-Run
After being rear-ended at highway speed by a driver who fled the scene, I found myself navigating physical pain, emotional shock, unanswered questions, and a choice I didn't expect to face: pursue justice or let go. This solo episode is Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang's account of what happened, what I learned, and the mindfulness lessons that emerged. If you've ever been blindsided by something you didn't c
319. The Science-Informed Method Behind Lasting Transformation
In medicine, we are trained to trust what is hard, measurable, familiar, and structured. We question whether something spacious, nourishing, or beautiful can be meaningful, impactful, and lead to real growth and learning. Many physicians are skeptical of coaching, mindfulness, breathwork, retreats, and yoga as relevant and meaningful learning because they do not resemble traditional medical educa
318. Intentional Communication Is Energy Conservation: Mindful Communication in Medicine
Communication can energize us, deplete us, or leave us energetically neutral. When you are tired, unclear communication is even more costly. We can learn from both communication that flows and communication that feels clogged. With mindfulness, clarity, and honest reflection, communication can become a practice of energy stewardship. PEARLS OF WISDOM With mindfulness, clarity, and honest reflect
317. Why Almost Every Woman in Medicine Feels She Doesn't Belong
Almost every woman in medicine has, at some point, decided she doesn't belong. We were trained to do it — to scan for what's abnormal, what's different, what doesn't fit — and then we turn that same lens on ourselves. In this episode, we share our own stories of feeling alone, and the reframe that changed it for both of us: belonging is a decision, not a feeling. It's something you get to choose a
316. How to Follow Your Inner Knowing When Logic Says Otherwise
What does following your inner knowing actually look like — not in theory, but in real life, with a mortgage, three kids, and twenty years practicing medicine inside an institution? In this solo episode, Jessie shares the long-form version of her story: how she went from Kaiser pediatrician of 20 years to leading 38 retreats, coaching hundreds of physicians, building Pause & Presence with her husb
315. Mindful Eating in Midlife and Menopause: Nourishment Not Rules with Dr. Heather Awad
Food can become one more place where we try to get it right, especially in midlife. Perimenopause and menopause add more noise, rules, and self-judgment around food. In this conversation, Dr. Heather Awad and Dr. Jessie Mahoney explore a kinder, simpler approach to mindful eating in midlife and menopause. We talk about nourishment rather than perfection, eating real meals instead of grazing, and
314. There Is No One Right Way: Mindfulness, Over-Accommodation, and the Tension Between Their Way and Yours
Have you ever been asked to do something in a way that just didn't sit right with you? If you are a physician, the answer is almost certainly yes — and probably this week. We get trained to defer, to accommodate, to keep the peace, to make it work. And somewhere along the way, accommodation stops being a skill and starts being a default. A reflex. A cost. There is a quiet teaching most physicians
313. Charting With Ease - A Mindful Approach to Documentation - Rerelease of #49
Most charting advice for doctors focuses on efficiency tools, templates, dot phrases, AI scribes, and time-blocking. Those things help. But they don't address the real reason so many physicians chart late into the night: the nervous system state we are in when we sit down to chart. If charting is taking over your evenings, weekends, and mental space, this episode is for you. Dr. Jessie Mahoney,
312. Mothering on Purpose: Mindful Mothering Across Every Stage
Are you tired of mothering on autopilot or reactively? Of loving your kids deeply and sometimes losing yourself in the loving? Of the constant " Am I doing this right?" In our annual Mother's Day episode, we explore "mothering on purpose." Between us, we have an 8-year-old, a 16-year-old, a 21-year-old, a 26-year-old, and an almost 30-year-old. Each one needs something different. What is simila
311. There Are No Shortcuts to a Life Well Lived
What happens when you've done all the right things, built the life you were supposed to build, and something inside you still won't settle? This episode is for the physician whose inner self feels restless. You'll hear Ni-Cheng share the raw truth of being diagnosed with breast cancer at 31 and what her body was trying to tell her. Jessie tells the story of the day she handed in her resignation
310. Why Curiosity Shuts Down—and How to Bring It Back
Do you know what you want? Not what is expected. Not what comes next on the list but what you actually want. For many of us, curiosity has been crowded out by pressure, productivity, and the conditioned belief that we should already know the answer. In this episode, we explore what curiosity needs to grow, what gets in its way, and how to start creating the conditions for more of it. PEARLS OF WIS
309. AI as a New Language: Practical Tools for Physicians and Small Business Owners
Many of us have had frustrating experiences with AI — not because we lack intelligence or willingness, but because no one has translated it in a way that makes sense for how we actually work and live. This is part two of a conversation with my son Slade about using AI in mindful, practical ways. We talk about real use cases — reviewing a lease, finding a job, making a blog findable, writing show n
308. AI for Skeptics: A Grounded Conversation for Physicians
What if your hesitation around AI is not a problem, but a reflection of how much you care? Have you noticed how thoughtful, conscientious people imagine the worst-case scenario when something new arrives? Could it be that some of the fear around AI is less about the tool itself and more about our stories about it? And what if you do not need to love it to change your relationship with AI? This is
307. When Life Goes Off Script: Showing Up with Grace for the Unexpected
What if the unexpected is not an interruption, but an invitation? Have you noticed how quickly a small technical difficulty become a full-on nervous system event? Could it be that some of our frustration is less about what went wrong and more about the stories we tell about what it means? What if we could meet these moments — the glitches, the delays, the disappointments — with a little more aware
306. The Case for Coaching in Modern Medicine: Sustainable Excellence Requires Different Skills
Coaching is a practical and effective form of support for physicians practicing amidst the chaos of modern medicine. It is a grounded way to help physicians practice with greater agency, steadiness, and self-respect. This episode explores: Why many struggles in medicine are not effort problems The role of nervous system regulation in sustainable change What physician coaching is, and what it
305. Strategies to Lessen the Costs of Decision Making
When we are depleted, reactive, and under pressure, even small decisions can feel surprisingly hard. Intention, physiology, and physiologic awareness make decision-making simpler, steadier, and less draining. This episode explores decision fatigue through the lens of physiology, neuroscience, mindset, and intention. Decision-making in healthcare is an expensive process. Physician thought patterns
304. From Empty Nest to Connection: An Orthopedic Surgeon's Retreat Story with Dr. Jennifer Swarington
When we've been carrying a lot for a long time, "fine" can start to feel like the only option. In this conversation, Jessie is joined by Dr. Jennifer Swaringen an orthopedic surgeon and yoga teacher. She has already been to Jessie's Nicasio Creek Farm retreat twice: once with a friend, and once on her own during an empty-nest transition. We talk about: what shifts when women physicians step i
303. What Happens When Physician Spouses Step Away Together
What happens when physician spouses step away from the pace of medicine and make space to slow down together? In this episode, Drs. Angela Wong and Doug Conrad join us to explore how rest, reflection, and shared experience can help us reconnect with ourselves, our relationships, and the deeper reasons we practice medicine. They reflect on attending The Connect in Nature Mindfulness Retreat at Gree
302. Making a Big Pivot: Moving Forward With Courage and Intention
We're continuing an annual tradition on the Healing Medicine Podcast: a Lunar New Year conversation that uses the Chinese zodiac (and the five elements) as a framework for reflection and intention-setting. Even if this isn't part of your culture or your belief system, exploring how a different cultural lens can help you see your patterns around transitions and help you endwell, pause to integrate
301. Relationship Wisdom: What 40 Years of Love Has Taught Me
In this episode, I share what has helped sustain my long-term relationship over the past four decades. I was asked to share my secrets with a large group of physicians. I preparing for that realized that I have no secrets. I have an approach. Since I started approaching my relationship with intention, it has gotten better than ever. Resentment grows from silent expectations. Shifting from expec
300. What Do You Want to Be Known For? A Tool to Reclaim Your Identity and Establish Boundaries
What do you want to be known for? One thing we want to be known for is this podcast. 300 episodes in, we are committed to offering fresh perspectives and value as healing medicine for our listeners as well as conversations that help to heal the culture of medicine. When we ask the question, "What do we want to be known for?" it becomes a decision-making filter, a boundary-setting tool, and a comp
299. Fun Filter: Deciding What Lights You Up (Co-Released with Dr. Melissa Parsons)
A conversation about living through a "fun filter." What does it looks like to let joy, ease, and alignment guide our decisions instead of obligation, striving, or outdated beliefs? A special co-released episode with Dr. Melissa Parsons, fellow retired pediatrician, coach, and kindred spirit. Together, we reflect on our own transitions out of pediatrics, how we've redefined success, and the free
298. What Are You Waiting For? Physician Burnout and the Cost of Waiting
We have been taught to wait as a measure of professionalism. We delay rest, joy, and alignment because medicine taught us that patience equals commitment. Many of us are still waiting long after training ends, hoping the system will change. This waiting can feel loyal, responsible, even virtuous. Over time, it quietly costs us our presence, our health, and our lives. PEARLS OF WISDOM • Waiting is
297. Why Women Physicians Are So Good at Doing Too Much
In honor of National Women Physicians Day 2026, this episode, Why Women Physicians Overfunction (and How to Start Doing Less Without Guilt) is an invitation to notice overfunctioning with compassion. Overfunctioning may have helped you succeed in medicine—but it often costs intimacy, energy, and connection. We explore overfunctioning and underfunctioning as relational dynamics, not personality fla
296. When the World Feels Unsteady, Choose Intention Not Panic
We are not here to pretend this is fine. We are here to help you get steady enough to choose how we respond. When fear narrows your thinking, you can come back to the body first. Regulate first. Respond second. In this conversation, Ni-Cheng and I name the collective fear, grief, exhaustion, moral distress, minority stress, and racial trauma. These are real, lived experiences that shape safety i
295. How to Stay Connected to Yourself When the World Feels Heavy - Peace Begins With You
Practicing peace is an intentional choice. It's not something we wait for once circumstances improve. It's something we practice in our breath, our bodies, and our awareness—even while uncertainty and grief remain present. In this episode, we explore peace as a regulated presence with what is real (not denial, not bypassing). When the world feels overwhelming, we often notice it first in our bodie
294. What Giving a TEDx Talk Taught Me: Choosing Love Over Control
Giving a TEDx talk taught me a lot about nervous system regulation, self-trust, and choosing love over control. In a medical culture that rewards certainty and discourages vulnerability, visibility is a nervous system challenge. Standing on a red circle requires staying present when every instinct says to hide. Through the question "What would love do?", this episode offers a grounded framework fo
293. When Feedback Feels Threatening in Medicine: Nervous System Skills
Feedback can be a nervous system event—especially for women physicians navigating leadership, visibility, and the pressure to perform. In this episode, we reflect in real time on what happens in us when criticism lands unexpectedly: the body activation, the urgency to fix or explain, and the shame that can follow. We explore how medical culture and perfectionism shape these patterns, and how we ca
292. When Physicians Stop Believing in Themselves: Burnout, Skepticism, and the Hidden Cost in Medicine
Physicians are trained to believe that skepticism keeps us safe and belief is generally risky. Over time, this quietly erodes trust in ourselves and what might be possible. What once felt protective can slowly narrow our lives and choices. Stuckness, disconnection, and a subtle loss of feeling alive grows. PEARLS OF WISDOM Medical culture often rewards certainty while sidelining imagination, ho
291. How to Choose an Intention Word That Changes How You Show Up
Have you ever considered how a few carefully chosen words could shape your year, your energy, your decisions, and the way you experience life? In this annual tradition, we share our personal practice of choosing intention words for the year ahead. This isn't about goals or resolutions. It's about choosing how you want to be, move through, and live your life. This year's process was deeper, slower,
290. The Overs and Toxics: Why Awareness Alone Doesn't Create Change
What if the very things you're hard on yourself about are actually strengths that are simply overused? In this solo episode, I invite you to step into a new understanding of your patterns without judgment or shame. Explore the "overs" and the "toxics" which are the subtle (and not so subtle) ways our best traits become burdens when they're overdone. If you've ever been told you're too much, felt
289. How to Take Intentional Action Without Burning Out
As we celebrate five years of the Healing Medicine podcast, this episode is a reflection on what has truly sustained us—intention, alignment, and choosing with awareness. Together, we explore how consistency rooted in love, not obligation, leads to energy, creativity, and sustainability. We share personal stories about letting go, taking pauses, and returning to what feels alive. This conversati
288. Teaching Kids to Regulate Big Emotions: A Mindful Mother-Daughter Story
Many of us want to support children through big emotions but feel unsure how. We may notice anger, overwhelm, or shutdown and struggle to respond calmly. This episode reminds us that regulation begins with presence, not correction. Sometimes the most powerful tools are simple, creative, and shared together. This conversation offers a gentle path back to breath, connection, and play. PEARL
287: When Family Health Decisions Conflict with Medical Training
Loving our families while holding medical expertise is profoundly complicated. We are trained to assess risk, give guidance, and prevent harm. When family health decisions differ from our training, our physician role collides with love and can lead to fear, grief, frustration, and/or an urge to intervene. In this episode, we explore how mindfulness can help us stay grounded and connected when lett
286. How to Navigate the Holidays With More Ease and Connection
What if the holidays could feel spacious, nourishing, and connected? This episode offers a strengths-based perspective on holiday dynamics—focusing less on what goes wrong and more on the mindful choices that cultivate ease, joy, and connection, even amidst grief, change, and complexity. We share what helped us experience Thanksgiving with ease this year. Our experiences were quite different, and
285. Mindfulness + Money: Rewriting Financial Stories for Physicians
Many of us carry shame and anxiety around money and stories we've inherited, absorbed, or unconsciously lived into. Mindfully acknowledging our stories is the first step toward freedom. Money is emotional, relational, and often a mirror of what matters most in life. Awareness of your money "story" creates spaciousness for something more compassionate. This week, Jessie is joined by Helena Rosentha
284. Brilliantly Bad Ideas: Humor, Resilience, and Staying Sane in Medicine's Most Absurd Moments
Misguided ideas surface in healthcare settings all the time. With warmth and loving amusement, we reflect on how these initiatives—often wrapped in corporate optimism—miss the mark. yet don't have to steal our peace. Brilliantly bad ideas aren't about you and tehy don't have to steal your peace. They're structural, impersonal, and often just disconnected from the day-to-day reality of clinical
283. From The Right Way to a Preference List
What if there isn't one right way to do things, but many? Letting go of being right can open the door to creativity, flexibility, and even liberation. This episode offers a mindful and compassionate reframe: seeing our approaches as preferences—shaped by our experiences, values, and identities. Pearls of Wisdom: • Softening into the idea of preferences fosters collaboration, both in medicine and
282. The Art of Not Fixing People
Peace and joy await when you allow others to make their own decisions, even if you think they are bad decisions. It is deeply freeing and surprisingly energizing when you stop trying to fix other people. Pearls of Wisdom: Letting go of trying to fix others not giving up—it's trusting others to be on their own journey. Trying to manage, fix, or protect everyone is a hidden source of burnout a
281. Be Radiantly You: The Antidote to Exhaustion and Judgment
Exhaustion and disconnection don't always stem from doing too much, often they stem from pretending too much. In today's episode, we explore surprising truths about energy, authenticity, and what it really means to show up as yourself in medicine and in life. What if the path to healing, for ourselves and for others, comes from standing out, not blending in? Conformity has a significant cost. Dee
280. From Powerless to Purposeful: Reclaiming Choice and Agency in Medicine
Empowerment isn't about pretending everything is fine; it's about remembering that we always can choose our response. Today, Dr. Jessie Mahoney and Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang explore the healing power of choice. We share how we can shift from complaining into creativity and how we can move from victimhood to agency, mindfully. We invite you to stop waiting for permission or for the system to fix itself,
279. Victimhood in Healthcare: Naming the Problem with Empathy and Truth
A mindful, honest, and hopeful exploration of victimhood in medicine—what it is, how it shows up, and why so many of us feel trapped, powerless, and unseen within a deeply flawed system. We invite you to listen with curiosity and self-compassion, knowing that if you've found yourself here—tired, discouraged, or resigned—you are not alone, and nothing is wrong with you. Rather than shaming or simpl
278. Finding Peace by Letting Go of Fixing, Managing, and Controlling
What if love doesn't look like fixing, managing, and controlling? What if letting go is the most loving thing you could do? Today's episode shares the story of what becomes possible when we choose peace over control. Our guest is Carol Howe, a school psychologist whom I met through a virtual Women of Dartmouth event in 2023. Her story is a testament to how the tools and wisdom of coaching are he
277. Menopause Without Overwhelm: Choice, Compassion, and the Power of the Pause with Dr. Susan Baumgaertel
Whether you're in perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause—or supporting someone who is—this episode is full of gentle truths and nourishing permission to live this season with intention, softness, and spaciousness. Dr. Susan Baumgaertel is a profoundly thoughtful and creative physician who passionately reframes menopause around nourishment, pleasure, and presence at its center. With decades of
276. Parenting Young Adults: Love, Letting Go, and Redefining Your Role
Parenting doesn't end when our children turn 18—it simply changes. Parenting young adult children encompasses a full spectrum of emotions such as joy, pride, longing, and grief. It requires a reevaluation of what it means to be a mother. In this heartfelt solo episode, I share truths about parenting grown children, a role that is rarely talked about. I share the joys, grief, and surprising lessons
275. The Power of an Introduction: Women in Medicine Can Change Lives and Culture Through Connection
What if one introduction could change the entire trajectory of your career or someone else's? This week's episode is an invitation to reflect on the ripple effect of referrals, recommendations, and authentic support, especially among women in medicine. As women in medicine, we haven't always supported one another well. In honor of Women in Medicine Month, this episode is an encouragement to chang
274. How to Know When It's Time to Move On: Graduating Instead of Quitting
Have you ever stayed in something longer than you knew was right—because it wasn't terrible, and it seemed like the "responsible" thing to do? This week, we invite you into a mindful conversation about the powerful concept of graduating and outgrowing roles rather than quitting. What if moving on didn't mean giving up—but meant you've outgrown, evolved, and are ready for what's next? Listen to le
273. Move to Heal: Exploring the Medicine of Motion with Dr. Amy Valasek
Whether you're a physician, a parent of young athletes, or someone exploring your own healing journey, this episode is a reminder that healing isn't always found in a prescription pad, it might be found in motion. Episode Summary: Have you ever felt there had to be more to practicing medicine? That healing could happen beyond prescriptions and procedures? In this powerful and heartwarming episode,
272. Mindful Gardening: What the Garden Teaches About Life
What can gardening teach us about life, medicine, and mindful living? In this conversation, we explore the parallels between tending plants and tending ourselves. From planting seeds to harvesting fruit, every stage in the garden offers lessons about patience, presence, letting go of control, and trusting the natural rhythm of growth. Whether you're an experienced gardener, a houseplant enthusias
271. Choosing Greatness Over Growth: The Power of Small Giants
What if smaller wasn't a limitation, but a superpower? We explore the countercultural truth that success doesn't always mean scaling up—it can mean rooting down. Inspired by Bo Burlingham's book Small Giants, we reflect on companies and people who intentionally choose depth, intimacy, and meaning over sheer size. We discuss how "great instead of big" has led us to more fulfillment, deeper connec
270. Mindfulness and Machines: A Loving, Curious Look at AI in Medicine and Life
What if your relationship with the robots—the algorithms, the bots, and the emerging AI tools—could be approached with softness and intention, just like any other relationship in your life? A playful yet grounding episode, exploring the rise of artificial intelligence through a lens of mindful curiosity, wonder, and loving amusement. Rather than catastrophizing or glorifying AI, we explore how it
269. You Were Never Meant to Carry It All: Healing the Eldest Daughter Effect
Were you the one who always held it together? The responsible one? The one who made sure everyone else was okay—sometimes at the cost of your own well-being? In this episode, we explore what it means to grow up as the eldest daughter—and how the roles we took on early in life may have shaped how we show up as women, physicians, caretakers, and leaders. Whether or not you're technically the elde
268. Yoga as Medicine: Rewiring Pain, Stress, and the Nervous System
I am beyond delighted to share this beautiful conversation with Diana May, the yoga teacher who first taught me how to teach yoga. If you've ever practiced yoga with me, you, too, have been touched by Diana's powerful, nurturing teachings. In this rich and heartfelt episode, we explore how both of us and the practice of yoga itself have evolved over the years. Our conversation is a journey thro
267. Replace Expectations with Intentions: Birthday Reflections on Aging Softly, Living Intentionally (and Fertility)
"Aging isn't just about getting older; it's about growing more evolved each day. More nuanced, more enriched. More beautiful. More ourselves" - Emily Dickinson How do we age with softness? How do we approach a birthday—or a fertility milestone—with compassion instead of judgment? In this rich and heart-forward conversation, I join Dr. Erica Bove, my birthday twin, to explore what it means to se
266. Why Can't They? The High Cost of Resisting Reality and How to Reclaim Peace
Have you ever found yourself asking, Why can't they just…? or Why are they doing this to me? These questions often swirl through our minds during frustrating moments on the road, at work, in our relationships, or even in response to news headlines and legislation. They come with a heavy emotional toll. Today, we explore the actual cost of resisting reality. We share vulnerable personal stories,
265. The Power of Mid-Year Reflection: Pause, Integrate, and Move Forward with Intention
A real-time invitation to pause, reflect, and integrate. In this special mid-year episode, we offer you the spaciousness and tools to reconnect with your intentions, acknowledge your growth, and mindfully marinate in what matters most. We reflect openly on our guiding words for the year—how they've supported us, challenged us, and shaped our journeys so far. With humor, honesty, and heart, we i
264. How to Be Well in Medicine - Even in Residency and Academics with Dr. Jed Wolpaw
How many conversations in medicine today focus on how hard and how broken things are? This episode is a hopeful and grounded counterpoint. Enjoy a rich and thoughtful conversation with Dr. Jed Wolpaw, an anesthesiologist, critical care physician, educator, and host of the beloved medical education podcast ACRAC (Anesthesia and Critical Care Reviews and Commentary) Jed and I first connected at a s
263. It's Okay to Have Fun: The Evolution of a Happy Doctor with Dr. Beni Seballos
This episode is an invitation to allow joy, play, and fun to take their rightful place in your life—without guilt, resistance, or apology. Beni Seballos, a family physician, mom, wife, daughter, and radiant soul shares how she went from overwhelmed and over-responsible to energized, creative, and genuinely happy. Beni transformed her from a life of self‑sacrifice and exhaustion to one of trust, fu
262. Standing Tall in Surgery: Finding Fulfillment Outside the Mold with Dr. Jenny Kang
Have ever felt like you had to hide parts of yourself to belong, especially in medicine? Honoring your truth, even in a high-intensity field like neurosurgery, can lead to deep healing, joy, and a renewed sense of purpose. An intimate and courageous conversation with Dr. Jenny Kang, a neurosurgeon who shares her inspiring story of transformation—one that challenges traditional definitions of succ
261. From ER Burnout to Soulful Living: Enia Oaks on Poetry, Pause, and Healing
A heartfelt conversation with an ER physician, poet and author. From a Studio in Oakland, California: 108 Notes on Existence, is a must-read - whether you're an ER physician, a young adult navigating the uncertainty of life, or someone simply seeking meaning and alignment. I discovered this book serendipitously a few weeks ago. Enia and I connected via her publicist, who reached out asking if I
260. Presence Over Pressure: Choosing Ease, Joy, and Meaning in Travel
This episode is an invitation to explore travel through a different lens—a mindful one. Whether you're traveling for work, visiting family, or taking a long-awaited vacation, we hope that this conversation helps you bring more intention, presence, and ease. We offer gentle, grounded tips to help you redefine what success looks like when you travel. It isn't about doing the most or chasing the per
259. What Are You Proud Of? A Conversation About Worth, Identity, and Redefining Success
A deeply personal and inspiring episode that invites you to gently explore a question many of us were never taught to ask: What are you proud of—about yourself? In this heart-opening conversation, we share honest reflections on identity, humility, and the discomfort so many of us feel around owning our success. You'll hear personal stories about pride, parenting, professional pivots, and the qui
258. Wisdom from the Wild
In this reflective solocast, Dr. Ni-Cheng invites you to join her on a journey into the lives of two very special Bald Eagles—Jackie and Shadow—and their eaglets, high above Big Bear Lake, California. She shares both the magic of nature and powerful life lessons that resonate far beyond the treetops. This episode is for anyone who: Loves wildlife or is fascinated by eagles Enjoys learning fro
257. Windex and Wisdom: Clean Your Windows, Clear Your Mind
In this episode of Healing Medicine, we explore the powerful metaphor of cleaning windows as a way to gain clarity in our minds and lives. Inspired by a real-life experience of hiring professionals to clean her skylights, Dr. Jessie Mahoney and Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang reflects on mindfulness, yoga, and coaching as intentional practices to clear the metaphorical grime from our perspective and lens of aw
256. Lessons from Mothering: A Mindful Journey Through the Seasons of Motherhood
This episode honors the many facets of mothering—through every season, from being a mom of young children to mothering teens, adult children, and even grandchildren. Whether you're a new mom or an empty nester, this episode is for you. Previous Healing Medicine Mother's Day Episodes include: 196. Stop Apologizing when you haven't done anything wrong 197. Do you feel Underappreciated? 134. Mindfu
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